Opposition CHP appeals controversial MİT law at top court

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Wednesday challenged a law passed last week that made changes to a law regarding National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officials in the country's Constitutional Court.

The amendment was swiftly adopted after a prosecutor attempted to summon five former and current MİT executives as suspects in a terror investigation. The MİT law was changed to necessitate special permission from the Prime Ministry for investigating high-level intelligence officials after a prosecutor investigating the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), a terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-related network, alleged that some MİT agents inside the KCK/PKK had collaborated.

A group of CHP deputies filed an appeal at the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the amendment.

With the new law, an investigation into MİT officials on charges of crimes heard by specially authorized courts can be launched only after written permission is obtained from the prime minister. Opposition parties and others are against the law on the grounds that it is designed for the benefit of certain people and hence runs contrary to the rule of law.